■MINING
Guinea rescinds iron deal
Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto said yesterday a concession which potentially could open a massive new iron ore field in west Africa appeared to have been rescinded. In a statement issued on Friday, Rio Tinto said it received correspondence from Guinean President Lansana Conte “purporting to rescind the Simandou Mining Concession.” A company spokeswoman said yesterday that the situation had not changed since then. Simandou is said by analysts to have potential to become one of the world’s major iron ore resources. Rio Tinto said it believed it had conformed with Guinean law and would be considering the situation.
■COMMUNICATIONS
Unions postpone strike
Verizon Communications Inc and two unions representing some 65,000 of its workers agreed to “stop the clock” on contracts that were set to expire at 12:01am yesterday. One of the unions, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), said a strike had been postponed “in light of progress that has been made” in the negotiations. The CWA, which represents about 50,000 workers, said the current contracts remain in effect as talks continue. Major bargaining issues include healthcare coverage for employees and retirees, wages and union representation for new job areas.
■REAL ESTATE
Gazit-Globe acquires Meinl
Gazit-Globe Ltd said it completed its acquisition of Meinl European Land Ltd with Citigroup Inc and renamed the third-largest Austrian property developer Atrium European Real Estate. The acquisition agreement stipulates staged investment in Meinl. Gazit-Globe, an Israeli developer of commercial real estate, said in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange yesterday that it had invested 270 million euros (US$420 million) in the first stage alongside a 230 million euro investment by Citigroup. Meinl shareholders on July 16 approved the plan by Gazit- Globe and Citigroup to buy the company.
■OIL
‘No TNK-BP shares’: Kremlin
State-owned Russian gas and oil giants Gazprom and Rosneft do not intend to buy a stake in the Russian-British oil group TNK-BP currently in the grip of a shareholder conflict, a government official said on Saturday. Questioned on the matter by Interfax news agency, Kremlin economic adviser Arkadi Dvorkovich referred to comments made by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev when he was Gazprom’s No. 2. Medvedev was quoted in June last year as saying that neither Gazprom nor Rosneft, the country’s top oil producer, had any plans to buy a share in TNK-BP. “We confirm it and think that TNK-BP has a good perspective on the Russian and global market,” Dvorkovich said.
■BANKING
ABC posts Q2 loss
Arab Banking Corp (ABC), the Bahrain-based investment bank that lost millions of dollars in US subprime-related writedowns, posted a loss in the second quarter. The net loss was US$71 million in the three months ended June 30, or US$0.06 a share, compared with net income of US$73 million, or US$0.07, in the year-earlier period, the bank said yesterday in a filing to the Bahrain Stock Exchange. The first-half loss was US$658 million. “In the face of continued deterioration in market values and uncertainties as to their ultimate recoveries, ABC decided to make a clean sweep and write-down in entirety its remaining net exposures to collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) of US$134 million,” it said in the statement.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which aims to disincentivize Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by cutting Chinese leaders and their family members off from the US financial system if Beijing acts against Taiwan. The bipartisan bill, which would also publish the assets of top Chinese leaders, was cosponsored by Republican US Representative French Hill, Democratic US Representative Brad Sherman and seven others. If the US president determines that a threat against Taiwan exists, the bill would require the US Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on funds held by certain members of the